


Breathe With Me

by Westgate (Harkpad)



Category: Age of Ultron - Fandom, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Clint could use a hug, Fluff, Gen, Kids being cute, Schmoop, parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 15:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3901771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harkpad/pseuds/Westgate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint can't sleep so well, and tonight Lila wakes, too. She has several ideas about how to occupy their time together in the night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathe With Me

“Daddy?” Lila’s tiny voice asked from the darkness in front of the staircase. The room suddenly felt warmer to Clint as he sat in the recliner near the window.

“Hey little one,” Clint replied. He heard her little slippered feet pat over to him, and she appeared in front of him like an apparition, almost out of nowhere. She had purple footie jammies on, and she was squeezing a purple teddy bear that looked like it had seen a few years, and her dark hair was tangled and messy around her shoulders.

“You’re awake, too?” she said as she climbed into his lap without invitation. She twisted and turned until she settled with her back against his chest and her head tucked under his chin.

“Nope, I’m sleepin’” he replied.

He waited a beat for the predictable, “Nuh, uh! You’re awake!” and he chuckled.

“You got me,” he said, and he rubbed her twiggy arms with his calloused hands, causing her to snuggle closer to him, like she could press herself into him completely. Some nights he thought maybe she would, too, just press herself into his skin and into his chest and he’d breathe and she’d breathe with him as one. Sometimes he wished for it, for her to help him breathe.

“Daddy?” she asked again, a little quieter, and her voice was a little like a Muppet voice, and it made him smile in the dark. “What’re you doin’?”

He pressed his arm across her chest and pulled her a little tighter, and then pointed out the window. Since there was no light pollution, they could see the field shimmering in the bright moonlight. “Watching for deer,” he replied.

“Did you see Rudolph tonight?” she asked hopefully.

“Nope, not yet tonight. I think I saw Prancer, though. He’s bigger.”

“Yeah, Rudolph’s little, like me.”

They sat quietly, watching out the window together for a bit, and then she said, “I heard you yell earlier.”

He nodded and rested his chin on top of her head. “Yeah. Sorry kiddo.” He woke everyone some nights, and then some nights they slept through his noise. Laura had gotten used to waking and stroking his back gently for a few minutes and then going back to sleep. When he woke Cooper, they would read a book together and then Clint would tuck him back into bed easily. The problem with waking Lila was that she didn’t go back to sleep so easy.

“That’s okay,” she replied. “Can I have some milk?”

He grinned, and without answering, he stood, throwing her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry in one smooth motion. She squealed in delight and drummed his back as he carried her to the kitchen and plopped her in a chair. He poured milks for both of them and sat down next to her.

“Straw, please?” she asked, and held out her hand expectantly.

He reached for the straw holder on the counter behind him and tossed one into her milk, bypassing her hand. She giggled.

“Thank you,” she added as she tucked the straw between her lips. She blew some bubbles, and side-eyed him, waiting for a possible reprimand. In reply, he put a straw into his own milk and blew bigger bubbles. She grinned at him.

“You need to go back to sleep, munchkin,” he said after she drank about halfway down her glass.

She shook her head. “Can we do a puzzle?”

He put his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand. “It’s super-late. What do you have tomorrow?”

“Art class but not till the afternoon, daddy. Please? Just one puzzle?”

He sighed. As if he could pass doing a puzzle with her up. He might get called away on Avenger’s business tomorrow and not see her for weeks. He’d do a puzzle with her while he could and she knew it. “Which one?”

“Mommy got me a new one – it’s Applejack and Pinkie Pie!”

He rummaged through the puzzle shelf in the pantry and found the new one and pulled it out. He dumped the pieces on the table and sat back while she began to sort. “Have you done it yet?” he asked.

“No. Cooper did it yesterday but he wouldn’t let me help.” She didn’t look up. She concentrated very hard on puzzles when she did them.

He watched as the puzzle came together. She asked him for help once or twice, but she liked to do them by herself, too. When she was finished, she sat back with a smug smile on her face.

“I love puzzles,” she sighed.

“You’re good at them,” he answered, and ruffled her hair. She took that as permission to climb down out of her chair and back into his lap. “Bed time?” he suggested.

She sighed. She might be only five, but she knew as much as he did that he might get called away in a moment. “Can I sleep with you?” she whispered.

He stood and held her in his arms as she wrapped hers around his neck and nuzzled the collar of his t-shirt. He didn’t answer, but carried her upstairs to the king bed he and Laura shared, and tucked her in between he and Laura, who instinctively scooted over to make some room. He climbed in after her, and she snuggled close again, pressing into his chest.

“I love you, Daddy,” she whispered.

He breathed in deeply and shifted their bodies until they were both comfortable and not bothering Laura too much, and he whispered back, “I love you Lila. Go to sleep.”

“Okay,” she answered, her voice muffled by his shirt. “I will if you will.”

So he did, and she helped him breathe through the night.

**Author's Note:**

> I might be a little too in love with the idea of his family. Sooooo muuuuucccch Fluff.


End file.
